The house on the left hand side of this view of Castle Brae, possibly belonging to a Miss Ross, was later taken over by St Duthus Press but has now been demolished. The Building which was later to become a shoe shop, then Wallace & Fraser and is currently Brown's Art Gallery, was according to the small notice above the door a "Shop to Let" when the picture was taken. Note Strachan's barrow outside the bakehouse, used for selling buns and cakes round the houses.

Picture added on 23 February 2005

Comments:

The building on the extreme left was where Tain photographer William Smith lived in the late 19th century and had his studio. When he died in 1906 his son ran the business, but he himself was drowned in Tain river in 1911 after which the business was taken over by Urquhart's of Dingwall. By the time the building was demolished Urquhart's had given up their Tain branch, and much of William Smith's old equipment must have been left in the house. A local resident who saw the house being demolished as a boy remembers seeing piles of glass plates being thrown out - a terrible loss, as Smith's photographs of the town and its people were fantastic. As far as I know all of his plates and business records are gone.